PlayStation 4 is in development

Sony has just held a conference call with its investors and tackled the difficult question of why, in these turbulent times and PSN hacks, have the costs for its research and development increased recently.

Masaru Kato, chief financial officer and vice president of Sony answered the question. He stated that although the PS3 has a lot of life left in it, development work is already underway on the “future platform.” He also said he cannot discuss it, which means you won’t be hearing anyone from Sony mentioning a successor to the PS3 anytime soon.

What it confirms for us is that Sony is already working on the PlayStation 4. That’s a good thing based on what its competitors in the console space are planning.

Next month at E3 we can expect to see Nintendo unveil the Wii 2. There’s also a rumor that Microsoft intends to steal some of Nintendo’s thunder by also announcing the next Xbox during the show. If that happens, we can expect to see both consoles appear in time for the holidays next year.

Regardless of what Microsoft does, the Wii 2 is expected to be more powerful than the PS3, meaning as of 2013 Sony will be selling a machine that can be outgunned. The Blu-ray advantage will also disappear as Wii 2 is expected to have a Blu-ray drive.

With PS4 in development, Sony can choose its release window carefully. Typically the company runs on a 10 year lifecycle for each console, meaning the PS4 shouldn’t be expected until 2016. However, Sony may have its hand forced if both Microsoft and Nintendo launch in the next year or so. If they do, the PS3 will be looking very old in 5 years.

Speak Your Mind

Sony does not Run on 10 year life cycles they may keep them around for 10 years but they do not release them every 10 years. So saying we should not expect PS4 till 2016 is completely wrong.

PSone – 1995
PS2 – 2000
PS3 – 2006

Starsbravo

I hope for it to be a powerfull machine, however I hope this time nintendo dont get behind ( at least without that huge difference in the wii era) in hardware power.

I think for customers would be great, because there would be more competition, and we more likely have the titles we want from third party devs the console of our personal preference.

Anonymous

Recommendation: Less gaming; More spelling, grammar and punctuation.

http://profiles.google.com/andyleber Andy Leber

I’m sure these companies have the next gen “in development” from the day they launch their console. “In development” can mean virtually anything.

http://twitter.com/mthwgeek Matthew

Hey Roc, you are right historically, but I should have been more clear. This generation I believe Sony is aiming for the full decade due to the costs involved of creating a new machine, and the extension offered by peripherals such as Move. But they could still be doing the 5/6 year cycle meaning 2012/13 is the window.

Joshua

Recommendation: Go to school and become a teacher, otherwise quit being a grammar Nazi; you’re just being ignorant.

Reasons you’re ignorant:

1. Roughly six percent of the world speaks English as their first language.
Obviously that means most people you interact with Online are
non-native English speakers.

2. Posting a comment on a site is in no way formal writing. No one is expected to write perfectly Online unless they’re writing actual articles.

3. Not everyone is a typist, they may be searching for letters and typing with one finger. Do you seriously expect them to ensure their grammar is perfect when it took them ten minutes to write two sentences.

If you have nothing to contribute other than whining like a girl, then keep your mouth shut. All you’re doing is proving your ignorance.